


The Boy with the Golden Sword

by cardinalgirl75



Series: Across Two Lifetimes [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But she's referenced, F/M, Joanna Lannister is a really great mom though, Okay so Brienne isn't actually in this, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tywin Lannister's A+ Parenting, featuring little!Jaime, little!Jaime really needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27191374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardinalgirl75/pseuds/cardinalgirl75
Summary: From the earliest recorded history, members of the Lannister family did not get soulmarks, which most of them spoke about with pride.  Lannisters were not bound by the whims of the gods, were not subject to an emotion as weak as love, and therefore were free to make the alliances necessary to expand the family influence and fortune.  If occasionally they found love through these alliances, they proudly told themselves it was their choice to do so and considered themselves superior to those who could not make such choices.To say that Tywin Lannister was seriously displeased to discover that his son had been born with a soulmark would be an understatement.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Series: Across Two Lifetimes [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980070
Comments: 42
Kudos: 123





	The Boy with the Golden Sword

**Author's Note:**

> Here's where I should warn everyone that Jaime's story is longer than Brienne's. I joke that it's because he's a lot more of a drama queen than she is, but the reality is that his story is more complicated. And it begins with Tywin and Joanna, so here is their part in his tale. Tomorrow I will begin posting Jaime's side of the soulmate AU.
> 
> Thanks for reading! :)

When Sarella Sand was eleven years old, she got a soulmark of a fiery sun on the back of her neck just after her nameday. History did not record her reaction to getting the mark, which was absolute fury as she planned to disguise herself as a boy and study at the Citadel, thereby becoming a maester. In fact, the only reason history made note of her age was because her soulmate was later revealed to be one of the princes of Dorne.

Most people believed that this was the youngest age anyone had gotten their soulmark. Surely if there had been someone younger, their family would have made it known if for no other reason than to see their name in history books.

They would be wrong.

~*~*~*~*~*

He was born less than ten minutes after his twin sister yelled her way into the world. The maester made the happy pronouncement to the exhausted mother that she had a son to go along with her daughter, cut the cord, and handed the boy over to a nurse while he got on with the business of making sure the mother was all right. He noticed nothing odd about the boy, who appeared to have a healthy set of lungs if his howling was anything to go by.

The nurse checked to make sure the boy was physically all right before she handed him to his mother, and so she was the first to see it. She let out a small gasp. The maester missed it, but faint as it was, even with the girl still screaming in her arms, the mother heard her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her voice weak.

“Oh, nothing—nothing!” the nurse insisted as she finished cleaning him. “He’s perfect. It’s just that I’ve never seen, er, I’ve never even _heard_ of a _baby_ being born with…”

This caught the maester’s attention and he glanced over at the nurse. “Born with what? I didn’t notice anything.”

The nurse wrapped the baby in a blanket and brought him over to his mother. She’d left the blanket loose for skin-to-skin contact, which meant she was able to show the woman what she’d seen easily.

On his left wrist was a tiny gold sword with a blue hilt.

Jaime Lannister had been born with a soulmark.

~*~*~*~*~*

From the earliest recorded history, members of the Lannister family did not get soulmarks, which most of them spoke about with pride. Lannisters were not bound by the whims of the gods, were not subject to an emotion as weak as love, and therefore were free to make the alliances necessary to expand the family influence and fortune. If occasionally they found love through these alliances, they proudly told themselves it was their choice to do so and considered themselves superior to those who could not make such choices. 

To say that Tywin Lannister was seriously displeased to discover that his son had been born with a soulmark would be an understatement. Even though his children had only just been born, Tywin had already been looking toward the possibilities for their future partners—one of the Tyrells for the girl, perhaps, so he could get into the luxury wine business. For the boy…the possibilities were endless.

Or they _would_ have been endless, were it not for that damned soulmark. Within twenty-five years, Jaime would be bound to some strange woman and gods only knew what sort of family she would be from or what advantages she’d be able to provide the family. Now, when Tywin looked on his son, he didn’t see that Jaime was near to perfect from the wispy gold curls on his head to his tiny toes.

All Tywin could see was the mark on Jaime’s wrist, even when it was hidden from view.

Joanna, however, believed that the gods had singled Jaime out for someone special, for why else would he have gotten the soulmark? She tried to understand Tywin’s disappointment, but she couldn’t share it. Every time she saw the little blue-and-gold mark on her son’s wrist—which wasn’t often because she did her best to hide it from Tywin—she gave it a little kiss.

~*~*~*~*~*

Joanna didn’t truly understand just how much Tywin hated his son’s soulmark until she took the twins to their four-month checkup with the maester. He pronounced both children to be doing well, although he was a touch concerned with Jaime’s weight. He gave her instructions for what she needed to do as she tried to get a squirming Jaime back into his little green shirt.

“I’m sure he’ll catch up to his sister in no time,” Maester Corwyn reassured her as Joanna got the shirt on and reached for the matching pants, “but it is something to keep an eye on.”

“Should I schedule a follow-up for him sooner than the six-month check?” she asked as Jaime gurgled with laughter at her attempts to dress him. She grinned at him. “Silly boy.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. We can always check his weight when you bring him in next month for the procedure.” Maester Corwyn made a notation of Jaime’s chart.

Joanna paused and looked over at the maester. “Procedure?”

“Yes, to remove the mark on his wrist.” He looked up from the chart. “I told your husband I would feel better if we waited until he was closer to a year old, but he was insistent.” When Joanna remained silent, he added, “Not that I think there will be a risk. This is relatively minor surgery, and as Tywin pointed out, the sooner it’s done, the less likely it will be that anyone will know about Jaime’s…abnormality.”

“Abnormality?” Joanna said in a low voice. “My son was born with a _soulmark._ There is nothing abnormal about that, and I would never subject him to any _procedure_ that removed it.”

Maester Corwyn looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, Joanna. I was under the impression that you and Tywin had discussed this and agreed that…”

“The gods gave Jaime that soulmark. It’s not up to me, or you, and certainly not my _husband_ to question their judgment.” She finished getting the pants on Jaime and bundled him into his car seat. “You can cancel the appointment. We won’t be needing it. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

“But…”

Joanna was so upset she nearly forgot to grab her purse. She flung it over her shoulder, picked up Jaime’s car seat, and walked out the door the maester opened for her. She headed straight for the waiting room, where her goodsister Genna was waiting with Cersei. Genna stood up, worry written on her face as she started to say, “Joanna, what’s—”

“We’re going, Genna. _Now._ ” Joanna flew past her as though the Others were on her heels. Genna followed, Cersei in tow.

Joanna managed to get Jaime buckled into the back seat of the car before she broke down. Genna put her arms around Joanna while she cried.

~*~*~*~*~*

Joanna couldn’t stop crying, so Genna drove them home. Joanna insisted that she go to Tywin’s main office first because she figured he would be there at this time of day, but his secretary told her that he’d decided to work from home this afternoon. As she drove, Genna tentatively asked Joanna what was wrong. The floodgates opened and Joanna told her everything.

The car had barely cleared the driveway before Joanna threw open her car door and got out, running toward the front door. 

Joanna came storming into Tywin’s home office. Tywin stood up in alarm. “Joanna, what—”

She slapped him. Although the blow had not been hard enough to stagger him, Tywin was stunned enough to take a step back.

“How could you?” she asked in a low voice. Then, when he didn’t answer, she screamed, _“How could you?”_

“How could I what?”

Joanna took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm her rising hysteria. “I just came from the maester’s office. He told me that you scheduled an appointment for him to remove Jaime’s soulmark. He said you had talked to me about this and that we both agreed that it would be best so that no one would know of Jaime’s _abnormality._ So I ask you again, Tywin—how could you? How could you deny our son what the gods have chosen for him?”

“Because I don’t trust the gods any more than I trust some fool on the street who believes they can see your future for a few silver stags. I trust myself, and I know what’s best for him.”

“Have you ever stopped to think what might happen if you defy the gods when they have done something that has never been done in recorded history? Listen to yourself! They gave Jaime a gift, and you’re looking to erase it altogether because _you know better than them._ ”

“It isn’t that I—” Tywin ran his hands through his thinning hair, a rare show of frustration. “Think of what would happen if word of Jaime’s soulmark gets out. It took a minor miracle to convince the nurses at the delivery not to talk about it.”

“Did you use bribery, threats, or both?”

He ignored that outburst. “If people found out about the soulmark, what do you think they would do?”

“I’m not talking about telling the world he has it. I don’t want him to face ridicule or become some spectacle. As he gets older, we can teach him to take care so no one learns about it until the time comes when everyone else gets theirs. Then he’ll be one of the crowd.”

“That’s not what concerns me, not entirely.” He sighed. “Even if Jaime takes care not to let anyone see the soulmark until his peers get theirs, what do you think will happen once people find out he has one? How many opportunistic families will try to insinuate themselves into our family by marking their daughters’ wrists and claiming Jaime’s their soulmate?”

“Fabricating a soulmark is impossible to do—”

“I’ve heard of tattoo artists that could make you believe a person has a live animal on their skin. How hard would it be for them to recreate something as simple as a sword?”

“Those are rumors, nothing more.” Joanna steeled her resolve. “You simply won’t admit that the reason you want that soulmark gone is because there’s a part of Jaime’s future that will never be under your control. And if you can’t control who his wife will be, perhaps you won’t be able to control other things about him. You think that if you get rid of the soulmark, you get that control back. Well, I won’t have it.”

Tywin gave her a wary look. “What do you mean by that?”

Joanna took another deep breath. “It means that if you do anything to Jaime, I’ll leave you and take the twins. If you try to take them away from me, I’ll go to the press and tell everyone about the soulmark, consequences be damned. You want to keep Jaime’s soulmark a secret? As I said, I’m fine with that. I even understand your fear that someone might try to use it to their advantage. But I’m willing to take the chance that all of those things come to pass if it means that Jaime doesn’t lose a part of his future before he even knows what it is.”

Joanna didn’t give Tywin a chance to respond. She didn’t want to hear any more of his arguments. She strode angrily to the nursery, where Genna was getting the twins settled back into their cribs. Genna was cooing over something Cersei was doing, but she looked up when Joanna came in.

“Jaime’s asleep, but this one’s fighting it today.” Genna’s eyes filled with concern. “Do you want me to stay for a while?”

More than anything, Joanna wanted to say yes. She wanted to have a chance to break down as she had outside the clinic, but she couldn’t. Not now. If she broke down, if she showed any sign of weakness, Jaime would pay the price. “You’ve gone above and beyond today. Thank you.”

“Of course.” Genna hugged her and turned to go.

“Gen? What if I’m wrong and he’s right? What if…”

Genna shook her head. “No. You can’t think that way. I love Tywin more than almost anything, but that doesn’t make me blind to his faults. Stand strong on this. Jaime will thank you for it someday.” She pulled away from Joanna. “I’m only a phone call away if you need anything.”

Joanna wiped the tears she just realized were falling from her face with her hands. “Anything?”

“Anything you need. I promise.”

~*~*~*~*~*

Four and a half years later, Genna sat in the nursery where she’d made that promise and knew that the time for her to keep it had arrived.

She shouldn’t have had to worry about it. The morning after Joanna gave Tywin her ultimatum, he’d acquiesced to her wishes and told her he wouldn’t seek to remove Jaime’s soulmark, provided she upheld her promise to keep it hidden from everyone else. Joanna agreed even though it meant not hiring a nanny like she wanted and meant that every outfit she bought Jaime had to have long sleeves. To all appearances, Joanna and Tywin’s marriage resumed as though the schism hadn’t happened. They were loving and attentive to each other in public. They acted like newlyweds when they thought no one was around.

Only Genna knew the fear Joanna kept hidden, a fear that grew worse when Joanna became pregnant again, convinced that something bad was going to happen. And she’d been right. Joanna died in childbirth with Tyrion, and now Genna was going to face Tywin’s wrath to keep her promise, because she knew her brother well.

So had Joanna. 

Genna tried quelling her fears by focusing on what was going on around her. Tyrion was fussy and wouldn’t accept the bottle she was trying to give him. She set it aside for now and rocked him a bit, crooning to try and soothe whatever was causing his unrest. She glanced over at the twins. Cersei had playing with a couple of her dolls while Jaime sat in front of the television, though Genna doubted he was taking anything in. Her heart broke for all three of them, but especially for him.

Heavy footsteps coming down the hall from the study to the nursery. Genna stood up and handed Tyrion over to the nurse Tywin had hired just after Joanna’s death. “Ros, I can’t get him to take this. Maybe you’ll have better luck.” Once Tyrion was secured, she smoothed down her skirt and went to stop Tywin before he reached the nursery, wanting this discussion to take place as far away from the children as possible. She opened the door just as Tywin had reached for the knob, sending him hurtling into the room.

“Daddy!” Cersei shrieked, tossing aside her dolls to throw her arms around his legs.

Jaime was more reticent with his father, but he stood up and faced him bravely as Tywin untangled himself from his daughter.

“Genna—” Tywin started to say, holding up several sheets of paper.

“We will discuss that in the study and not here.” Genna left the room without waiting for an answer, knowing Tywin would follow her. She was barely in the room when suddenly he was there behind her, slamming the door and stalking over to his desk.

“What the fuck is this?” Tywin waved the sheets of paper in his hand.

Genna sat down in the chair across from him. “You know what it is. It’s Joanna’s last will and testament.”

Tywin tossed the papers on the desk between them and sat down. “She made _you_ the executor of her will. She placed _you_ in charge of the children’s trust funds from her. She _authorized you_ to take me to court if I attempt to remove that…that mark.”

Genna said calmly, “And she took pictures of the soulmark if you decide to do it anyway, safely stored in several locations, to be given to Jaime on his eighteenth nameday. His soulmate will turn up eventually, and Joanna wanted to make sure he knew what to look for in case it was no longer on his wrist.” 

Tywin stared at her. “I cannot believe you don’t see how disastrous that mark is for this family. When I am gone, Jaime will be the one to take over. He needs someone by his side who…”

“I know what you think he needs.” Genna looked him in the eye. “You’ve said it almost every day since the twins were born. Joanna didn’t agree. When she was alive, she knew you would never go against her or risk the scandal of her leaving you and taking the children. Now that she’s gone…” Genna swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. “Tywin, Joanna didn’t ask much of you when she was alive. She loved you, and I know you loved her. She didn’t just feel you were disrespecting the gods by trying to remove the soulmark. She thought you were denying Jaime the same bond you had with her.”

“She couldn’t see that _we_ chose that bond. We didn’t need any damned gods telling us what to do. We chose each other. By refusing to let me remove that mark, by putting together this travesty of a will, she took that choice away from Jaime.”

“If Joanna’s father hadn’t had the mineral refineries you needed, would you have considered marrying her? Or would you have chosen another? You were attracted to her when you met, but that would have meant nothing if there hadn’t been something you wanted. Love came later. Stop pretending you two had this magnificent love story from the beginning.” Genna sighed. “I understand your viewpoint, Tywin. Honestly, I do. There’s a part of me that agrees with you that the gods should be allowed to play matchmaker is preposterous. However, another part of me, the part that goes to the sept on holy days and prays every night to the Mother, understands why the gods do it. We will never understand why Jaime’s got a soulmark, and why he got it so young. We just have to trust that the gods know what they’re doing.” She paused. “And perhaps that’s the point. Our family hasn’t looked on the gods with much respect.”

“What do you want me to do? Give up the business, donate all our wealth to the poor? Attend sept every day and…and…”

“No. If I were suggest any of that, you would give me all the reasons why you can’t. Besides, I would be a hypocrite to deny that the hard work you do provides for my lifestyle—for all our lifestyles.” Genna rose. “I want you to honor Joanna’s wishes. Leave Jaime’s soulmark alone. Don’t drag him to the nearest doctor to have it removed. Trust that the gods would not give Jaime an unworthy soulmate.”

Genna could see something about this struck Tywin, though it was several moments before he spoke again.

“I won’t have it removed,” he said. “I swear on Joanna’s grave.”

Genna waited to see if there would be some sort of loophole. When Tywin said nothing more, she nodded. “Very well,” she said, then headed back to the nursery.

 _What does it say about us that I expect there to be a catch?_ she wondered.

The nurse had gotten Tyrion settled in Genna’s absence and told her that Cersei was now taking a nap, but Jaime was still in the nursery. He’d abandoned the television for playing with Legos, his face looking determined as he locked a yellow piece together with a blue piece. He grabbed another yellow Lego, then another. Genna told the nurse that she would keep an eye on Jaime for a while.

Once the nurse was gone, leaving Genna alone with Jaime, she kneeled beside him. “What are you doing there?” she asked. She tried to figure out what he was putting together, but she’d never gotten the appeal of Legos and therefore had no clue what it could be.

“Making a sword for my friend,” he said.

Genna glanced at the Legos again. Tywin had been so obsessed with keeping people from finding out about Jaime’s soulmark that other children were never invited over to play. _He should have friends his own age,_ she thought.

“Your friend. I see.” Genna gave him a bright smile. “What’s his name?”

“It’s not a _he,_ Aunt Genna. It’s a _she._ And her name’s Wench.”

She laughed. “Wench? Where on earth did you hear that word?”

“I dream of her.” Jaime reached for another yellow block.

Genna’s mirth faded. _Surely this is just an imaginary friend._ “You do?”

Jaime nodded. “Yeah.”

“Jaime, is your friend your age or is she older than you?”

“Older. She’s big. Real big, with yellow hair. And sometimes she’s mean to me, so I’m mean back to her.” He smiled. “But we like each other really. She carries a sword, but she lost it when we met some bad men, so I thought I’d make her a new one. Do you think she’ll like it?” He held up his creation so Genna could see it.

She blinked back tears. “I think she’ll love it,” she replied, drawing Jaime into her arms for a hug. “You’ll have to hang on to it until you meet her.” She wondered how to say what she needed to say without confusing him. “Listen, about your friend.”

“Yeah?”

“You can’t tell other people about her, okay? Not even your father, Cersei, or Tyrion.”

Jaime’s smile faded and he pulled out of her arms slightly. “Like I can’t tell people about this?” He held up his left arm to where she could see his soulmark peeking out from his sleeve.

Genna nodded. “People wouldn’t understand about that, or about your friend. Someday, when you’re older, you can tell people all about it.” _Not that they’ll believe you had the soulmark at birth, but you can tell them._ “Just not now.”

Jaime looked like he wanted to cry, but he nodded. “Yes, Aunt Genna.”

Genna hugged him, her heart breaking all over again as she saw in her mind the difficult road this sweet boy would have before he found his yellow-haired soulmate. _I’m going to protect you,_ she vowed. _Just like Joanna would have. I promise you that, sweetling._


End file.
